New Scots deal with EU would cost over £1bn

Kate McCann is a reporter at City A.M. She covers politics and insurance and can be contacted at kate.mccann@cityam.com.

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Kate McCann

AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would lose £1.1bn a year and 17,000 jobs as the price of renegotiating terms with the European Union, according to a report by Europe Economics and an EU-funded think tank.

The New Direction report concluded that the costs an independent Scotland would face if it had to renegotiate its terms with the Brussels would amount to £1.1bn. This would include negotiating the EU budget rebate, responsibility for border control and the euro opt-out arrangement.

An extra £1.8bn would be lost on top of this through forgone output, according to authors Brian Biggs and Andrew Lilico.

A spokesman for Better Together, the campaign to keep Scotland as part of the UK, said: “With each passing day, the true cost of separation is being exposed in stark terms. This reports shows the very real risks associated with Scotland leaving the UK. We draw enormous strength from being one of the biggest countries in the EU. Trading this strength and security for the risks and uncertainty makes no sense whatsoever.” The Scottish National Party was unavailable for comment.